My name is Jeremy Pernell and I am 56 years old. I am a janitor at Washington Middle School. I like seeing the students. Some of them call me “Dad.” When a student has a problem, they do not come to me to talk. They do not go to their friends, or to their teachers. I see them talk to themselves and I see them swallow what they are about to say and they don’t know what has been unspoken. They have small brains. I learned this from a 10th grade science book that was on the floor. Maybe the student was offended and placed it on the floor and walked away from it.

The students at my school text each other. The bravest and smartest ones text about the problem, and the others make texts about things around the problem. No one texts the problem itself and the problem knows that they text about it, but this simply adds to the problem’s powers. I have problems and I can see problems clearly and I know what these kids are not saying. I am 56 years old and I have a big life. I believe my brain size is normal. The students who call me “Dad” are not my children and I tell them, “We’re friends.” They put their trash in my can and they go to class and they go behind the emergency buildings on the old field to kiss and to do other things. I do not clean up the area behind the emergency buildings. I am letting it become dirty because this is the place for children and it belongs to them.

Some of the young teachers are still children, and are children with the students, and they are also texting and having problems and growing their brains. They do not call me “Dad.” The students are learning life and I clean underneath the benches that sit in front of the classes because if you look under a bench and it has trash, what are you learning about life?

I do not remember any janitor from my childhood. And I did not always enjoy cleaning my school. My children do not understand what I do. I have problems. All my kids call me “Dad.” I am a friend to all children even when they are learning and being problems. My children are parents to problems and some things are trash and we put them away. I do not look inside my trash can and I do not text. My name is Jeremy Pernell. I am 56 years old, and I am a janitor at Washington Middle School.